Michael "Venom" Page (MVP) and the UFC broke up this week.

It's a decision many are not surprised by, but few understand. Page is 39 years old and went 5-1 while signed with the UFC, with all his wins being by decision.

He was a high-profile fighter when he was with Bellator. When you look at his record of 26-3, that's pretty good.

When you look deeper, you see 13 of the wins come by way of KO/TKO, along with a library of highlight finishes of many of them.

He was likely a more costly fighter to sign, and if you remove your fandom from the exchange, he didn't deliver on the investment the UFC made.

But...

... that's not Page's fault.

Let me explain.

MMA is rough

When you look at some of those highlight-reel finishes Page has, he's cracked skulls, caved in noses, and kicked off a kneecap in some of his wins.

The thing about fighting is that what he is able to do to his opponents can be done to him as well. MMA is a combat sport, and sometimes, we fans forget the risks fighters take in these matches.

Page fights his fight and wins the best way he can. (more on winning in MMA here)

So he can walk away the victor, even though it may be boring. He still walks away to fight another day.

That's good for him, but not good for business.

The Business

Dana White has gone on record saying, "I say holy shit moments" when talking about what he does with the UFC.

Page has plenty of those, which is probably why they signed him. Plus, he's another fighter in the UK market that had some steam behind him already. He wasn't really some fighter that was unknown, so the UFC probably had to invest a little more in him than they're used to.

All of his wins went to a decision.

Unfortunately, for the White and the UFC, those didn't fall under the category of "Holy shit moments."

That's the downside to the business of mixed martial arts. If you're not entertaining, then you're not worth keeping around.

I like Page.

He's a great martial artist who imposes his style of fighting well.

But, it's just not something that sells in the UFC these days.

Maybe he doesn't need to fight anymore, but it looks like Jake Paul and the other MVP might be interested.

Jake Paul @jakepaul Think it’s time to bring MVP to MVP 6:18 AM • Sep 9, 2026 194 Retweets 7042 Likes Read 400 replies

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